In a way, New Mexico Coach Yvonne Sanchez summed up her Lobos’ 74-60 Mountain West loss to Boise State in three little words: “We didn’t guard.”

The Boise State Broncos rolled out their third straight win and handed New Mexico its third straight loss by shooting 53.8 percent from the floor and 52.6 percent from 3-point range.

“They were 10 of 19 from the three,” said Sanchez. “That’s why we have to guard better. We are not a 3-point shooting team. It’s OK if you’re not a 3-point shooting team, but you have to find other areas (to score).

“We have to find a way and we have to find a way to defend. It’s a team that is struggling with leadership. It starts with me. I’m not going to offer up any excuses.”

The Lobos led the game 18-15 and 22-21, but never lead again after Boise rolled to a 30-22 lead. The loss dropped UNM to 7-10 overall and 2-4 in MW play. Boise State is 9-8 and 4-2 in league action.

The Lobos shot 40.7 percent from the floor, but went 2-of-10 from long range and were outscored 30-to-6 from that distance. UNM won the board battle 35-30. Boise State had 17 assists to nine for UNM. The Lobos had 16 turnovers and Boise State had 15.

“It’s a tough loss and they are all tough losses,” said Sanchez. “It’s frustrating for everybody.”

The Lobos got 18 points from Antiesha Brown, who also had four turnovers and no assists. “I thought Tiesh did a good job down the stretch,” said Sanchez.

“We had 16 turnovers and nine assists. That’s awful,” said Coach Sanchez. “But we went to the line 22 times and I’m proud of my kids for that. We had some positives.”

Boise State had four players in double figures with Kayla Reinhard ripping the Lobos off the bench going 5-of-5 from 3-point range. Reinhard and four of Boise’s’ five starters all shot 50 percent or better. Keiahnna Engel had seven assists – two short of UNM’s total.

The Broncos grabbed the lead early in the game before Kianna Keller rolled in a left-handed layup to push UNM up 16-15. The Lobos went up 18-15 and 22-21 before Boise State claimed the lead for the rest of the half. The Lobos got the last bucket of the first half – a Deeva Vaughn 3-pointer – to go into the locker room down 34-27.

Boise State drifted up 40-31 early in the second half, but UNM scratched back to 45-40 at the 15:01 mark. The Broncos came out of that huddle and went up 49-40. UNM fell behind by 11 points at 54-43, but the Lobos rallied to 54-48. Again, Boise drifted away and it was 60-50 heading down to the seven-minute mark.

The Lobos had a small surge and four straight points by Brown cut the Broncos’ lead to 62-56. Boise then came up with a big trey by Lexie Der to go up 65-56. Another Der jumper at 2:57 gave Boise a 68-58 lead and a fat 10-point cushion to carry into the stretch run.

If there was any question about the outcome, Der answered it with a 3-pointer at 1:30 that gave Boise a commanding 15-point lead.

The Lobos return to The Pit on Saturday to play Colorado State at 6 p.m.